“Nothing I have learned in the last 48 hours leads me to believe that there was any necessity to change the precedent established over those 219 years,” said Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. Talking about immigration? Taxes? Campaign finance reform?

Nope. William Jefferson.

After titling the story “Jefferson: Probe Won’t Force Resignation” and reminding us the Congressman had recently been videotaped taking a bribe, the AP writer seems obsessed with the FBI’s search warrant executed on Jefferson’s Capitol Hill office, even quoting an unamed source with the “Senate Historical Office” to point out its rarity. Doesn’t the House have a historical office?

Oh yes, down at the bottom of the story we find a few reasons for the search, like:

The plan was for Jefferson to use the cash to bribe a high-ranking Nigerian official to ensure the success of a business deal in that country, the 100-page affidavit said.

All but $10,000 was recovered Aug. 3, when the FBI searched Jefferson’s home in Washington. The money was stuffed in his freezer, wrapped in $10,000 packs and concealed in food containers and aluminum foil.

Many might remember Congressman Jefferson commandeering scarce National Guard personnel during the Katrina debacle to ferry him out to his waterlogged home, where he exited with a large object and a few suitcases. Meanwhile people were sitting on rooftops waiting for rescue, but hey, that was Bush’s fault, right?

But the story may be a harbinger of the defense to come. It’s not really about a congressman refusing to resign amidst charges of taking bribes, it’s about more abuses of power by the Bush administration. That’s right, it’s Bush’s fault — again. Guess it doesn’t quite meet the definition of ‘a culture of corruption,’ according to Miss Nancy.

Oh, before closing, that stuff about packs of money rang a bell. Whatever happened to the story about the guy who testified in Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell’s trial that he’d given Memphis Mayor Herenton a bag of cash in exchange for city contracts? It’s like it never happened.

UPDATE 5/24

Jefferson still refuses to take the advice of his own party to give up his Committee membership. Heck, he should take the route of his former colleague Bob Livingston and resign altogether.

Meanwhile, Brian Ross’s ABC News blog reported that Hastert was under investigation by the FBI, but the real ABC later denied it. The culture of denial runs strong in all sectors.